Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Sorry that I haven't (really) written in awhile (and the stuff I have written isn't really that great).Today I was sick and didn't go to school-it was a glorious day of mostly reading and sleeping. Still, I haven't finished Ophelia or the other book I've been meaning to pick up.I promise, promise, promise that I won't forget the top five books of the month. However, it's probably going to be like top two books of the month, since I've been particularly lazy in reading new books this month. I keep wanting to revert back to my comfort books (such as Pride and Prejudice, Twilight, A Great and Terrible Beauty).January hasn't been the greatest month for me so far, especially since the situation seems to be getting worse and worse at my school.I just found out that I may be switching schools next year. On the bad side-I would have to go to a brand new school in my last year of High School. However on the (maybe) good side-I wouldn't have to deal with the people I'm having to deal with everyday. Hopefully.Any opinions on this? From anyone who's had to switch schools?

Thursday, January 25, 2007

To show you how truly bazar this day has been, I'll write my take on what happened just before school left (I was asked out by a nice, admiring, but otherwise truly clueless guy).

___________________________________I walk out to the parking lot, looking for my keys. It's a hot day with a cool breeze. I'm completely bathed in sun (and can barely see) by the time D* comes up to me.

He blocks me from the view of my car and that means we're out in the middle of the main parking lot vein where it's most dangerous to stand at around 3 pm.

Before I can even say hi he asks:

"Hey, Sookie, I know this is really random but....."

(Long pause)

"Yeah?" (I ask-so innocently, not ready at all for what's coming)

"But would you like to go out...like at night....to dinner....or something?"

(Lots and Lots of long pauses)

And here's my swashbuckling, intelectually stimulating answer:

"Um..............Yeah, maybe, uh.......sure?"

(Isn't my use of extraordinary vocabulary stunning? I really will prove to be the most verbose person to ever walk this earth)

Then another awkward pause goes by (these pauses are really aweful: you could crochet a dozen blankets for the needy, visit Calcutta, film a movie, drop off the sweaters at the local shelter, and

take your dog on that really long walk you've been promising inside these pauses.

Then he proceeded to give me his phone number.

After "8-7-2" I gave up trying to follow his voice and just punched in random numbers on my cell phone.

Then we both left. I don't think either of us said goodbye.

_____________________________________

The thing is: I don't really like D. He's very nice-knows a lot about history. And he isn't atrocious looking. But I still don't like him that way.

And the saddest thing is-I don't think he even likes me. I'm pretty sure he was just asking me out because he doesn't want it to be too obvious that he likes my friend, who is already taken (and I mean REALLY taken).

He might not even be aware of the fact that he likes her-I don't know.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Just based on the first chapter of my new story, what do you think is a good name for it?It was in Government that she first noticed him. He sat on the second row to the back, and looked oblivious to the teacher’s, Mr. Randall’s, droning speech about communism.Rae had never noticed that Mr. Randall’s voice was monotonous and boring before.If he’d have given this speech three months ago, she’d have probably be sitting in the very front, instead of the very back, pencil in hand, scribbling notes down furiously.Things change.Now she had a pencil in her hand, but instead of paying the least bit of attention to the teacher, she was deciding what to draw.Rae sighed.It was becoming so bad now that she couldn’t even make the slightest decision.His neck and shoulders flexed, just lightly.Suddenly she had the idea.I’ll draw him, she thought. That was his nickname in her mind, him. Not that she didn’t know his name. Everyone in the school, maybe even the whole county, knew Lyle Cooper’s name.His name was like crack to the addiction of the gossipers at the school.So, unfortunately, was Rae Kingston’s.She hadn’t been acting at all like her old self in the past three months.She avoided homework, ate unfashionable amounts of junk food and consumed non low-fat chocolates; quit the cheer squad, Student Council, and Spanish club. And worst of all (in their minds) she didn’t accept one single date. Not one. She avoided boys like the black plague.She’d had a boyfriend around the time when her dad died, too. Blaze Stolson. Blaze was an overachiever, grade-A student with a smile that could melt butter. Not to mention he’s captain of the basketball team. Now, Blaze had completely forgotten her name. If they passed each other in the hallway, neither one would look at each other.It was all due to the fact that Rae shut all communication down.Besides, Blaze’s rep couldn’t afford her early life crisis.No problem.She didn’t really care after awhile, anyhow.Eventually she would stop caring and go completely numb. The thought didn’t scare her.All she really cared about right now was her mom. She didn’t care about any of her other family. She didn’t care about any of her classmates or old school friends.She couldn’t care less about her old friends.Rae was so far away from that now.....she couldn’t be farther away from her old self.She neglected her school work. She went from being an A student to a D student in less than two months.Rae was a senior-before her dad died she was thinking of going to Princeton or Duke. Perhaps even Stanford.That was all gone now.She was hardly college bound. She might not even graduate high school. But who cared, anyway?She certainly didn’t. Her mom was too distraught at the moment to care. And the rest of her family was careful about the whole situation and would never dare to confront her about it.Same with the teachers. They had let this go for a long time, not wanting to talk to her about it because she still seemed to be depressed.Lyle Cooper, Rae thought. Whenever her mind came close to thinking about dad, she always retracted it and pulled away from the memories. She could always find a distraction. Usually it was food, or the really old movies starring Audrey Hepburn that was all she seemed to be renting these days.Right now-it was Lyle Cooper.That name was synonymous to Rasputin or even Vlad the Impaler to some.One of his friends, a real whack-job named Jordan Ferguson, drew something on his open notebook.It was probably something dirty.Lyle coughed back a laugh.The class suddenly went quiet-Mr. Randall’s speech had abruptly ended.“What was that, Mr. Cooper?”But Lyle was still coughing.“Mr. Cooper, if this is another one of your attempts to disrupt my class, then I’ll have to ask you to go to the office, right now.”“But sir!” Lyle and Jordan’s friend, Jack Hayden, the mouthy one exclaimed innocently, “he wasn’t doin’ anything....” But Mr. Randall had already made up his mind.“You and Mr. Cooper both go to the office then.”Lyle shrugged, unhurt, and walked out the classroom door.Just before he left though, Rae could have sworn she saw a small smile appear on his face for the smallest of seconds, and she could also have sworn he’d meant for her to see it.He must have seen the drawing-which was him with a cross between Rasputin’s and Vlad the Impaler’s facial hair.It truly looked devastatingly terrible and unattractive.How weird, Rae’s thought, that he even knew I was drawing him.Then her mind wandered back to the many times she’d attempted to draw her dad as a kid. The paintings were awful-and most of the time you couldn’t even tell what she had painted because the watercolors tended to drip and blend.He always praised her handiwork though.Dad-with his scent of cigars and musty old books and who knew what else. Dad. With his slight Italian accent and love for all things with Oregano. Dad. Who bought the entire collection of Godfather movies and who, on every Wednesday night, watched The Sopranos reruns.But dad was gone.No.Rae couldn’t truly believe that he was gone. After all-the house was left completely like it had been three months before. His study was untouched especially. Sometimes, when they were drunk, his old friends would even come by on late nights and ask if he was still up.Mom still kept her wedding ring on (granted-she never left the bedroom, except for food and to go to the bathroom, and sometimes to visit her mom and her sister, Aunt Lillian).Rae was afraid to arrange anything differently in the house-and she always kept it spotlessly clean (like it still would have been if mom would ever come back).God forbid that anything would change.God forbid that she make anything but his favorite type of Eggo waffles in the morning.God forbid that she forget or not do anything according to his regular schedule, just in case he came back anytime soon.God forbid.Her thoughts were doing this again-going back to her dad. This couldn’t keep happening. She really needed another distraction.Her mind went easily back to the time warp of shopping lists and to-do lists that she had just waiting there in the back of her brain, should she need an immediate pain killer.She’d need to drop by the grocery store tonight, after babysitting the Gordon kids for two hours, and before that she’d need to check on her mom, at least finish one homework item that needed to be done (so that she wouldn’t feel too guilty, just in case Tamara came-to and asked her about homework), and she needed to call Chelsea and tell her that she couldn’t work that extra shift at the bookstore after all. Mrs. Gordon had called her in the morning and asked her if she could baby-sit from five to seven tonight. It was an emergency. And she would pay her double for it. Rae couldn’t turn such an offer down.She wondered how much of that would actually be done.We’ll see.The bell rang for the end of class and the end of the day.Luckily, getting to her car in the faraway parking lot wasn’t a problem anymore-since she never brought home more than one book.Rae walked quickly to her locker (wanting to avoid any pitying stare from former friends) without talking to anybody.She’d given up on having friends.Rae shoved the Calculus book in her messenger bag. She hated Calc most of all her subjects, but she hadn’t done homework for it in four nights.She zoomed passed humanity and nearly dived for the door, running into someone.“Sorry.” She barely whispered, meaning to instantly pass by whoever it was quickly.“Leaving so soon?”The voice was a strange one. Rae was intrigued enough to look up.Lyle towered over her several inches; he might even have been six foot five to her five four and a half inches.But it didn’t matter.“Yeah, so what?”She was pissed. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone and let her by like anyone else would’ve?“Well we’re having a row now are we? What fun. I adore rows.”“Row?” Rae thought aloud, “since when have you been British?”Lyle smiled and said, “Since I was born.” Immediately Rae could catch the hint of an English accent.“Whatever.” She said, determined to move on to her car.She hauled forward; Lyle stopped her with a mere tug of his arm. She fumed. Wish I had those cheerleading muscles now, she thought, when they’d actually come in handy.Lyle shrugged his shoulders.“All you have to do is ask.”“Ask what?”“For me to move.”“Oh. Can you move.....please” she added that last word with a little annoyance.But Lyle did what he said-he moved.She was a yard or so passed him when she heard his voice again. It slipped back into its pure American accent and phrasing now.“Just wondering, but would you possibly like to hang with my friends and me tonight?”It was a date. No, she thought hurriedly, it isn’t.But it was close enough.“I don’t think so,” was Rae’s answer.He looked slightly disappointed, but slightly amused. It made for a strange facial expression. But Rae had to admit it was pretty attractive, no matter how strange.She turned back in the direction of her car again.“If you change your mind,” chagrined, she had to turn again once more to face him, “we’ll be at the old Opera House, the one that’s run down, we’ll be there all night, come anytime you want. Rae.” He put an emphasis on her name.How did Lyle Cooper even know her name?Lyle Cooper.This was the strangest thing that had happened in her life by far.No, not the strangest.That thing was also what she wanted to distract herself from thinking about.She found herself still turned around to see him, but he had instantly disappeared.What a weird, weird boy, Rae mused.She faced her car again and this time, made her stride so brisk that she wouldn’t have been able to hear a thing behind her. Even, she thought, if it happened to be his voice.

Monday, January 22, 2007

I got this very charming (but insane!) book on a dare. I'm not usually a fan of chick-lit (with an exception with Meg Cabot's books though). But I have to admit-this one was pretty good!

It was fun reading about the hilarious situations Jess always gets herself into (also, her dad sends her hilarious joke horoscopes throughout, though he's sort of a mystery man because he doesn't show up at all in this book).

She wants to be a standd-up comedian-and appropriately so!

I did have a few problems with the book, though.

And that makes it tough to recommend.

Jess lives with her feminist "mum" and the theme of anti-men is spewed constantly in the book.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of sexual references, and a lot of (unnecessary) nasty language.

I don't think I could have finished the book would it not have been for the great save at the very end.

The end of the book is much less vulgar, and has so much more comedy.

I really really want to recommend this book-I do. But that's a bit hard.

Nevertheless, I'll be picking up the sequel (in hopes that the language is a bit more innocent), which is supposedly about her road trip to see her dad.

If you can handle it-maybe even skip a few unnecessary parts- then I think it could be called recommendable.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. ~Albert Einstein

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip. ~Jonathan Carroll, "Outside the Dog Museum"

Ah me! love can not be cured by herbs. ~Ovid

When love is not madness, it is not love. ~Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense. ~Mark Overby

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. ~Author Unknown

Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly. ~Proverb

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.~William Shakespeare, Mid-Summer Night's Dream, 1595

Who, being loved, is poor? ~Oscar Wilde

Love must be as much a light, as it is a flame. ~Henry David Thoreau

Without love, what are we worth? Eighty-nine cents! Eighty-nine cents worth of chemicals walking around lonely. ~Laurence Marks, M*A*S*H, "Love Story," original air date 7 January 1973, spoken by the character Hawkeye

We loved with a love that was more than love. ~Edgar Allan Poe

Love is not consolation. It is light. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. ~Author Unknown

In this horror of solitude, this need to lose his ego in exterior flesh, which man calls grandly the need for love. ~Charles Baudelaire

So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life. ~John Milton

What Can I say? I'm in love!photo: (used for the cover of New Moon) by John Grant/Getty Images, crushed tulip = undying love

Monday, January 15, 2007

I have a snow day ha ha ha ha ha ha*happy dance* happy dance*Tangoby myself around the room!!!!*Snow Day! Snow Day! Here in south Texas!God is awesome- Awesome is God.....*Doing another solo tango* Now my dad has come into the computer room* I shang-hai him into tango-ing with me*

Photos: The first is a picture of when it snowed here in my hometown the day after I was born, and the second is a picture of a snowflake made of clay.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

All I want is a room somewhere,Far away from the cold night air.With one enormous chair,Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?Lots of choc'lates for me to eat,Lots of coal makin' lots of 'eat.Warm face, warm 'ands, warm feet,Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?Aow, so loverly sittin' abso-bloomin'-lutely still.I would never budge 'till springCrept over me windowsill.Someone's 'ead restin' on my knee,Warm an' tender as 'e can be. 'ho takes good care of me, Aow, wouldn't it be loverly? Loverly, loverly, loverly, loverly

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Well, my PSAT scores are in.Ha ha (sorry-just had to laugh there. Have you ever been in a bad situation where you just HAVE to laugh).Well-in Critical Reading and and Writing I didn't do so bad.In Critical reading I got a 50 (or 500 if it would have been the SAT)In Writing I got a 47.Math-haha- a 37.My total score is 134 (1340).It puts me in the 41 percentile.Okay well-better go change into all black clothes and mourn my future-because, indeed, it looks as if maybe I'm going to clown college.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Which would you rather have/be (if you want to-you can state your reasons)

A hamburger or a hotdog?Neither. A Cheeseburger-well I guess that's along the lines of a hamburger, but still. A kiss underneath the stars on a clear night, or in the rain?A kiss underneath the stars....Strangers in the Night.....A snowy morning or a warm afternoon?Even though I'd love to see snow for more than a three minute period, I'd still take the warm afternoon. I'm from Texas Y'all.Hot chocolate or coffee?Coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Though I can make excellant hot chocolate.A text message or a phone call?A phone call-I hate text messaging. I'm a fast typer on computer/typewriter, but not on cell phone.A limo or a Volkswagen Bug?Neither. A Jaguar Coupe is my meow.A long island ice tea, or a martini (note-you do not have to have drunk alcohol to answer this question-you can answer it based on which one sounds/looks better)?A martini-only because I've heard from a reliable source that long island ice tea IS NOT YOUR FRIEND on account of its alcohol level. Though I've never drunk either. The one time I have tried alcohol it was at a wedding (champagne) and I got really sick. The doctor said I have some sort of allergy to it.A book or a movie?So hard! Because sometimes-to get the full experience of the book-you have to see the movie. And sometimes-movies just suck. I guess I'll take a book.Tea or a soda?Tea-as long as its flavored and thoroughly sweetened.(have as a friend) An axe murderer or a clown?I'll take the clown!A peaceful lake or a restless ocean?The ocean.A singular best friend or many acquaintances?Neither. A small group of tight-knit friends.(be) a person who flips hamburgers for McDonalds or a stuntman?Ugg-I hate McDonalds. I'll take the stuntman position.A dog or a cat?I love dogs. And I love cats. But I think I'll take a chesnut colored horse above all (like in A Blood Red Horse)And finally-A TAG or a survey?A Tag-they're so much fun!!A world without words or a world without color?How am I supposed to choose????? I need words-so that I can write. But I need color to brighten me up!!!! I guess color has to go.....Sorry. Just can't live without my words.An empty amusement park or an empty shopping mall?An empty amusement park-large indoor places with absolutely no one (or nothing) in them creep me out.The mannerisms of an insufferable opera diva or the mind of a mad scientist?The mind of a mad scientist. I confess-I can't stand insufferable divas.No memory of history or no memory of yesterday?No memory of history-though it's basically the same thing. I'd HAVE to at least remember yesterday for school. I do NOT want to end up like Lucy in A Thousand First Dates.(questions in blue complimentof Nancy )

After the Eiffel Tower it's the grand Notre Dam. You take another photo-but this one in color with your cheap funsaver camera that you bought at your local grocery store (it shouts-you are such an american tourist!) to catch the beautiful arches, colors, and various three-dimensional hues found in the cathedral's structure.

Paris is a spectacular city with so many sights to see, places to go, people to visit-that you wish you could stay forever. Sadly-this is not part of the tour. It's hard to say goodbye to the city you will remember always. But you paid for a full tour of France-why not get your money's worth? Regrettably-you pack your suitcases with new clothes, photograpghs, and souvenirs.

Phase Two: Countryside

Soyez bienvenus à la campagne française(welcme to the French Countryside)

The French Countryside is lush and beautiful. You spend hours hiking, going to the beach, trying to talk to the locals, and taking as many pictures as humanly possible. Unfortunately-on the trip home-your funsaver camera will accidentally be boiled in chocolate fondue (you try to say "thank you very much, I loved the fondue" to your waitor but in his dialect it means something insulting so he snatches your camera and gives it to the cook) and leaves you only a few colored pictures-and only one of the French Countryside.

Ah! but you have had such great memories-shopping, gabbing, eating, and having fun, experiencing the culture. These are the few surviving photos you have.

Antique shoes at an antique's store that you found.They remind you of Vincent Van Gogh's painting of tiny old shoes (which happened to be the Barnes and Noble cover of the newest edition of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. (Picture Credits:Corey Amaro/Tounge in Cheek )

Old French books (your absolute favorite) that you love but still don't plan to attempt to read anytime soon.

Your dining experience was the best, and possibly most fattening, that you'd had in your life.

Phase Three: Back at America

Soyez bienvenus à l'Amérique!

(Welcome to America)

You put all your wonderous and superlative souvenirs, photos, postcards, love letters from French men you met, and other memoribilia in a photo box labeled "FRANCE", and put it on your dorm's book shelf.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

**Short Intro: This is file three (part three or chapter three-whatever you prefer) of my latest endeaver, JAZZ (if you're not up to date on what's happening with Jazz and her world-check the sidebar under Categories and Favorites where all of Jazz's files have been placed). Recently I've been writing, editing, and rewriting, all on Jazz that I have. I really don't want to jinx it by saying that it will be a novel-but I might as well say that. And I've finally found a use for my pitiful LJ. This will be the last file in Jazz's story. But if you read my LJ (link in the sidebar) you might be able to read some sneak peeks and my updates on how things are going...Anyway, enjoy-because this is the last time!**Jazz didn’t know what had hit her. There was a terrible pounding in her head-as if she had voluntarily run into a brick wall.But other than that-and a sense of disorientation-she seemed to be okay.Of course-she had her eyes closed. So she didn’t actually know she was okay. For all she knew-she could open her eyes to find she was decapitated.This thought, and a cinnamon-like smell made her eyes open instantly.She was not decapitated. Instead, Jazz found herself in a luxurious compartment (decorated in an early nineteen-hundreds style) in what seemed to be a fast, moving train.She was lying down, taking up a whole, maroon, velveteen cushioned bench.She quickly sat up, rubbing her aching forehead.“Where am I?”“About two hours from our destination.”A distinct female voice said. Jazz rubbed her eyes open and looked in front of her.A mug of something swirling and hot was pushed into her hands by a woman who had striking auburn hair and fair skin. The only thing strange about her was her eyes-their irises were a strange cloudy pink color.She was the woman from The Porker. Except without the strange voice.She was still wearing the fancy, ankle-length dress and fur wrap. The man with the high-pitched voice sat next to her. He was reading a thick newspaper entitled The News on Absolutely Everything.Hmm. That was a strange title.Jazz looked at the mug.Is it Poisoned? She thought frantically.She sniffed the steam. Its scent was strong cinnamon and, she took another whiff, chocolate.It was hot cocoa over-filled with cinnamon.She took a sip.Mmm.....The cinnamon and whatever else was in there made her fully awaken. That’s when she remembered.Wait, hold the phone-aren’t I supposed to be KIDNAPPED??? Locked in a room with no air conditioning, chained up to a post?But she wasn’t. She was in a lavishly decorated train compartment drinking hot, fresh, cinnamon cocoa and laying on velvet cushions. It was a prison all the same. Only, Jazz didn’t focus on it that way for now.Jazz looked uncertainly at her kidnappers.What was wrong with their eyes? Why were they kidnapping her? And what was with the luxurious train compartment? Where were they taking her anyway?All questions Jazz hoped to answer.“What.....?” She was about to start in with the questions, but her throat rasped and gave out.The man looked up from his newspaper.“Don’t try to talk. Your voice won’t work for another full hour.”His voice was perfectly normal for a twenty-something-year-old man.This raised another question-what was wrong with their voices back at The Porker?Why had they been so strange and uncharacteristic?Jazz looked inquiringly at the auburn-haired woman. She mimed writing something down with a pen and paper.The woman nodded, reached into an antique, black valise, and pulled out a notebook and pen.“Careful,” the woman said before handing the pen to her, “That’s state-of-the-art. You can’t just buy one anywhere these days.”Jazz looked at the pen-it didn’t look very special-it was just a plain old black ballpoint pen.She held it to the pad of paper to begin her long stream of questions.But something unexpected happened-the pen squirmed violently in her hands, desperate to be free of the prison that was Jazz’s hand.It was almost human-like. It stood up on its ballpoint and tried to push away Jazz’s fingers.“What? What the heck? How is the pen even doing that????” It wrote on the page.The woman looked startled, as if she forgot something.“How is this even possible?” The pen wrote, and-“Why is this pen writing down everything I’m thinking????”The woman looked at the pad.“It writes every thing that you’re thinking. Think about what you were going to ask-and it will write it down.”“Right,” the pen wrote, “And I’m Santa Clause. I must be dreaming. Oh-wait she can see this. Great. Just great.”“Believe me or not.” The woman said. “Just try it. And you’re not dreaming.”Jazz reluctantly closed her eyes and focused on the questions.She could hear the pen scratching and opened her eyes again.On the paper was the long list of questions she’d been thinking about.“Whoa, this is so cool....how can this pen even do this. Is it....” The pen was about to write “magic” when the man looked up from his newspaper, took the pen in one swift motion and clicked it shut.“There’ll be time for questions later. Right now we debark.”The auburn-haired woman sighed as the train came to a lurching stop.“My name is Ballantina Loft. And this is my husband-Orald Loft.”“Call me Stretch.” The man said in a congenial tone while standing up to get leather suitcases from the overhead cabinets. Jazz could see that his nickname was accurate. He was taller-maybe taller than the tallest basketball player on earth.Ballantina opened the sliding door of the compartment.“After you.” She said, motioning for Jazz to step out into the crowded train hallway before her.Jazz took another sip from the still steaming mug and then set it down on the little table near the window. She stepped out into the chilled hallway before Ballantina and Stretch.“Viktor Station. Next Stop-Halle Station. Three Hours.” The voice over the intercom stated.The funny thing was that Jazz-even with her newly refreshed eyes-couldn’t see the intercom speakers anywhere.“Come on.” Stretch said testily, and navigated their way through crowds of people.Viktor station was large and crowded. But other than that, Jazz could see nothing. Stretch and Ballantina were going so fast through the crowd-and Stretch had a fierce grip on Jazz’s arm.She should have done whatever it took to slip into the crowd and away from her kidnappers. But she admitted to herself that she was strangely fascinated with the couple.They rushed her through until they were stopped instantly by some sort of barrier they couldn’t see.A man at a small desk surrounded by Plexiglas and spoke through a tiny microphone. His voice had a nasal quality to it, and his pink eyes were watery.“Welcome to Customs. You have an unidentified person with you. You’ll need to show me her Globovisa and her papers. Please put them on the materializer.”“Oh. Yes. Her papers. Didn’t you put those in my suitcase, dear?” Ballantina said nervously to stretch.Jazz couldn’t believe her ears. Materializer? Globovisa? What were those? And why did they have to go through CUSTOMS. Weren’t they still in the same country? How long had she been asleep on that train, anyway?Stretch put a small packet of messy papers on the metal tray, where they instantly vanished and reappeared in the man’s hands.WHOA, Jazz thought, how did it DO that?

**Ps. It would be greatly appreciated if you'd post your opinions in a comment**

Thank you, Miss Erin, for this TAGThree things that scare me: failure, being alone, bugs of any kind except lady bugs and millipedes (centipedes are the dangerous ones, so I was told)

Three people who make me laugh: I can only pick three? Alright, here goes: Kat, Lauren Graham on Gilmore Girls, my Mom

Three things I love: writing, reading, BLOGGING!

Three things I hate: loneliness, abusers, fear

Three things I don't understand: Why girls are so insecure about their weight all to get a guy when he doesn’t care in the first place, boys who send random e-mails who like you when you’re totally giving them “the vibe” that you don’t return those feelings (think of a Mr. Collins situation-that’s sort of what I’m going through right now), religions that make absolutely no sense

Three things I'm doing right now: trying to write something of worth, listening to Evanescence, drinking water

Three things I want to do before I die: visit Italy, sit in the booth at the pub where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien sat and discussed their fantasy novels or whatever at Oxford, publish a novel

Three things I can do: write poetry, make people laugh, read fairly fast

Three things you should listen to: “Call me when you Sober” by Evanescence (by the way-the title and music video have nothing to do with the actual song), “Walking my Gargoyle” by The Gothic Archies, “You are Loved (don’t give up)” Josh GrobanThree things you should never listen to: Anything by Ashlee Simpson, gratuitous cussing in movies, my car’s breaks squealing.

Three things I'd like to learn: Italian, Italian-style cooking, and French Cooking

Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid: The X files, Ella Enchanted (by Gail Carson Levine), Amelia’s Notebook (by Marissa Moss) Three Blogger friends that I am going to tag: any three people who chance upon this and haven’t done it already

Monday, January 1, 2007

Last month, for November's top five, I did something totally different than I've done for September and October.This month I'm returning to doing it the old way. If you don't understand the method to my madness, refer to the sidebar under the "categories and Favorites" section.

Princess On the Brink by Meg Cabot(Book Eight in the Princess Diaries series)Getting the latest book in the Princess Diaries is essential (that's most likely spelled wrong but I think you get the point) for any girl who loves these things:a. Romanceb. Diariesc.Princess-y stuffd. dysfunctional families that also happen to be royaltye. the woes of a vegetarian who likes meatf. New YorkThe Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket & Beatrice Baudelaire(companion book to A Series of Unfortunate Events)

An awesome, fun, and fast-paced book. A must have for any fantasy lover.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

I loved this book. I've always wondered if there wasn't some sort of place where all of the magical creatures flocked to. A very good story-very original.

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (book the eleventh in a series of Unfortunate Events)

My favorite new character has to be captain Widdershins. Seriously-everyone MUST read this. Although I liked the Penultimate Peril (good if not a bit confusing), Grim Grotto will always be one of my favorites.

About Me

My favorite thing in the world is to read a book. I also enjoy writing, graphic design, and all media and forms of art. I'm also addicted to starbucks coffee (well, who isn't) and have my heart set on traveling the world.